HopStop purchased by Apple, immediately halts Windows Phone support

Apple has purchased HopStop (www.hopstop.com), the online city transit guide and has appeared to immediately halted Windows Phone support. Windows Phone consumers have spotted HopStop missing on the store, which can only be tied to Apple's acquisition. This shouldn't come across as much of a surprise to anyone. If you've been a fan of the app, unfortunately it's no longer published and consumers are being informed to use the mobile web version.

This is a real shame, especially since the app has been on Windows Phone since the first generation. HopSptop has also removed any mention of Windows Phone from the website. You can either work with their mobile web version, or seek alternatives.

Considering that iTunes may be the worst UX experience I've ever seen in a major consumer software application, I'm not sure that would be such a bad thing.
But, do you really think they would end support for the OS that controls 80+% of the PC market?

Apple's doing, of course. Maybe Apple sees us as a threat, albeit a small one. I feel some competition would be good for Apple, so that the could step up their game a little bit. It makes me slightly angry that after releasing an app for all these years through both the windows operating systems, all that hard work would be wiped out in an acquisition.

however, if msft had not given them MS Office, today they would be dead. I think it was a big mistake that gave a lot of leverage to apple many years later at an unsuspected moment. (Office for mac is inferior to the PC version but still...)

Well, we ARE a threat to Apple. Windows Phone is canibalizing sales from Apple and the low-end Android devices. Albeit, it's a small rate (for now), but as the apps selection is improving rapidly this year, a lot of people will see WP as viable going forward, and that rate will increase heavily.

Apple's low-end solution is to keep selling the previous generations until the point where iOS cripples it. Eventually that strategy falls apart for them, and they're not going to skimp on hardware because it goes against their corporate philosophy of user experience.

Yeah, Apple's behavior doesn't make sense to me. It seemed they were informally teaming up with Microsoft to take on the Google monopoly in mobile by switching to Bing, but then they kill off Windows Phone app support but keep it in Android. Looks like they're a little worried about Windows Phone chipping away at iPhone market share un emerging markets.

Your statement still doesn't justified the anti-competitive behavior displayed by biased developers, and now Apple. The DOJ only does its job when it comes to claims against MS and lets Google & now Apple get away with it. Sad, sad, sad!

They could have put terms in the buyout contract that would preserve support for all currently supported platforms, instead they decided to screw all their loyal WP customers. Even if the resumed support for WP in the future I would not use their damn app now.

Its about the attitude mate!! If Apple or Google knew MS would do it, they would atleast think once before pulling such stunts everyother day. And its like not MS hasnt faced such lawsuits earlier, one more isnt really going to make all that difference.

MS has no obligation to support iOS/OSX devices with their software. None what so ever.
Can you find Final Cut Pro on Windows? Nope. Precedence has been set for decades, many apps are one OS only.
MS can easily pull support and say "sorry, its not good business for us to sell to you"
Nothing anti-trust about it.

Microsoft would never do that. They retain their huge market share by making sure Office ubiquitous, so people aren't forced to try OpenOffice, etc. Keeping market share is 1000x easier than winning market share.

+10,000 I agree! As a loyal WM/WP for years and years, it seems MSFT always shafted its own platform users for others. They still haven't fixed Skype integration with all WP platforms. I still can't log into Skype using my Outlook/Hotmail ID and still have to use my Skype password on my WP...

Back in the windows phone 7 days I used hop stop a lot because Bing maps couldn't give transit directions. Today I tend to use gmaps, bur Nokia Here does it to (albeit Nokia transit directions are terrible in NYC). So all in all i don't mind hop stop being gone, and apple did desperately need native transit directions because car usage is on a downward trend.

I work for an auto manufacturing company and our sales have increased every month for the last 35 months! Plus the US outlook for auto sales has increased from a 12 million units per year estimate to just under 15 million units per year estimate since 2008 until now.

personally i have to say it might be downward sense metropolitin areas are insane with traffic (judgment based on movies for i have never been in any major city passed dallas and hated it) as a person who has 2 car at the age of 22 i have to say its tooo hot here in texas to think anything else besides driving where you need to go... trust me i enjoy driving my modded cars and jump at the chance to drive everywhere i can for its alot of fun

Statistically car usage might be on a downward trend but more cars are now coming standard with GPS...MSFT is collaborating with Ford on their SYNC system, Apple is working with BMW/Mini Cooper on their telematics systems and VW/ Audi/Porsche is using Android...there is growth...

Wow really? So let me get this straight...Apple takes this off of Windows Phone while keeping it on Android? Android just has ghetto iPhone apps. They are the ones that COMPLETELY copied Apple when it came to their OS and app store. AND Apple's new OS is f****** the same thing as windows phone? APPLE DAY KEEPS THE WINDOWS PHONE SUPPORTERS AWAY. BOOO

This is why I don't buy Apple Products anymore and will continue and promote the use of products from Microsoft to my family and friends I hope Windows OS catches on more and people get Windows on more products instead of buying apple products!

I liked the Apple II+, mostly because I could write simple programs using BASIC and there was a game called Wizardry. I'm not sure, but I think Microsoft actually wrote BASIC for them. Nowadays Apple is too expensive and pretentious. Fuckem.

Only MS could generate over 19 Billion in revenue and over 4 Billion in profits and be in a do or die situation...... They generated almost twice the revenue of Google but that doesn't seem to mean anything. Yes the RT was poorly priced and marketed but Microsoft is hardly on life support.

Tablets, cell phones, and wearable tech is the future. PC's are dying. Plus Microsoft has extensively supported the NSA, CIA, and FBI. Martin Armstrong had a chart on Microsoft, if Microsoft stays below $32.50 at the end of the year they will sink further. So yes, do or die, time to focus on shareholders rather than govt surveillance. Here is the article: http://armstrongeconomics.com/2013/07/11/microsoft-why-nasa-dumped-windo...

You MS fanboys are such losers. Apple has been around for 35 years, do you think that it's pure randomness that the iPhone is the best selling phone in the US. I had a Lumia 900 for 10 months, best I can say is that WP is all style, no substance.

Is the iPhone the best-selling phone in the US? I haven't seen any US-only statistics, but it seems that Apple's getting the butts whooped by the Galaxy line world-wide.
If the iPhone is still the best-selling phone in the US, it's not because it's a good product. They're just riding the coattails of earlier successes. They once had the finest product on the market and Americans bought it, the apps and the accessories. Now that other manufacturers have bypassed Apple in quality, specs, functionality, etc..., the Americans find it too much trouble to switch to better products.

You should just go all Apple. I've never been one of those people who bash apple products like many fan boys, because there's room for others in the PC & mobile space for all who chose to compete; but to deliberately deny a platform and app or service is straight up anti-competitive. The media is biased, the justice department is biased; This should be view as a major injustice when the DOJ allows this type of behaviors and doesn't act except against MS; all other companies can do whatever they want. As i stated above, if you back this behavior, just go all Apple; why MS is viewed as evil, I don't know as they share tech with everyone!

Well when a whole company focuses on making one product it has to be one of the best. Right now, Nokia cared more about windows phone than Microsoft does. The day they start caring and put their focus on a single thing, that will the best product they ever make.

What happens when you are threatened by something? You stop supporting it. Apple and HopStop can go and (do you know what) themselves. This is the reason why I getting rid of my MacBook pro and getting a W8 instead. Apple will slowly drown in their own pathetic agenda.

I don't know what this app is and I've never used it but this means Apple is also getting scared of Windows Phone. Probably because Microsoft/Nokia next aim is to get to the second position. Anyway I really despise Apple and would never ever buy any of their products. Bunch of sore losers.

Are Apple intending to throw their investment away? Why buy a company and then cut off important revenue streams with immediate effect, for no reason at all. Shitty apps like this isn't going to make non-iOS users think... "wow, i gots to ditch this (insert cheap wp device) and gets an overpriced iphone 5 right now". Apple, your market share is falling, your once unstoppable profits are dwindling, your product is failing. Sort it out or get out.

Never heard of the app and WP has plenty of good alternatives, particularly Nokia's own map services. Apple were the underdog before the iPod and iMac came out, and everything is cyclical. Apple will not be #1 forever and if WP continue making quality apps on a decent OS, we all have nothing to worry about.

Valid points but MS cannot afford to lose a bigger customer base for its products so they release for all platforms. But as soon as WP8 gains I am sue this will change and the updates to them will or should stop like apple and Google does. I think apple and google are just trying to crush third OS so they can fight each other.

I find this to be good news. Everyone says that Windows Phone is this slim fraction of the market that doesn't deserve attention. But Google and Apple are both well aware of Microsoft, and are definitely keeping one eye on them. Google pulls tricks like yanking EAS from gmail, and they pulled a very similar move recently by buying Waze and halting development of an upcoming app for Windows Phone. Apple pulling this trick today confirms it for me. Combined, Apple and Google own the share of the smartphone market equal to Microsoft's share of the desktop PC market. But they know Microsoft has money and is motivated to be a player in this market.

There acting like bullies, they won't go after google because their bigger than them. Bullies only go after people who are smaller, Apples real competition is Google but it does feel nice to know their threatened by WP

I think its the other way around...it's expected that WPs market share will increase and that will probably happen at the expense of apples market share...so why not start buying up companies that have WP apps and shut them down...dick move nonetheless

Well with their hardware no linger cutting edge, and overpriced, and sales curves and profits bending down, the last thing Apple thinks they have going for them is their software LOL. Got to keep all their brilliant mapping capabilities off that killer Nokia Hardware :D

It's actually a favor to Microsoft and Nokia. Nokias HERE suite will be available to everyone, and if they discover that it is superior to Hopstop, word will spread. So the appropriate action here (hey that's a pun) is not to curse Apple, but to download, use and give praise to Nokia Transit if you find its worthy.